Part of the manufacturing process of semiconductor lasers includes separating wafers into bars. Each bar is a one-dimensional array of laser chips. The manufacturing process requires the application of thin films of glasslike materials to portions, called facets, of the laser bars. The thin films are known as facet coatings. Due to the nature of the facet coating process, the coating can cover any unmasked areas on the laser in addition to the facet. Coating other areas of the laser is undesirable since the top and bottom of the laser have gold contacts for mechanical attachment of the device through a solder bond and for electrical connection to a power source through a ribbon bond.